Pasta Salad from Scratch. It’s easier than you’d think!

Isn’t it funny how your tastes in food change when you get older? I know that mine sure have. As a child I HATED Pasta Salad and avoided it at all cost, but as an adult I LOVE it!

So much so, that lately I have been making it at least twice a month. I’d make it once a week, but that’s a little over-kill and it’s kind of expensive to make…

Pasta Salad from scratch really is easier than you’d think! It’s certainly better for you than buying pre-made, because you can control every ingredient and make it as healthy as you want.

I’ve been fiddling around with ingredients and I finally decided on what is now my “go to” recipe for Pasta Salad. I have tried to simplify it so that, hopefully, others can make it from scratch too. Well, here it is broken down into steps to make it easier.

Let’s dive right into the pics/tutorial of the process of making Pasta Salad From Scratch:

First, we prepare the pasta by boiling it until it’s done, draining it, and then let it cool enough to cover and put in the fridge until you are ready to add the other ingredients. You can cool the noodles down faster by rinsing them with cold water when you drain the pasta.

Instructions

Prepare your pasta by boiling it until it is your desired level of "done". Drain and rinse in cold water. Let cool, place in a large bowl (at least four quarts in size, cover, and refrigerate until you are ready to add the other ingredients.

To make the dressing mixture, use a pint sized jar with a plastic lid. Add all of your ingredients to the jar. Close the lid and shake well. Place this in the refrigerator until you are ready to mix the salad. shake it well before mixing it into the other ingredients. I personally think it tastes best to let the dressing sit and allow the flavors to blend for several hours before you mix up the salad.

On a large cutting board, cube the Mozzarella, Slice the remaining ingredients to your desired size.

Gather all the ingredients, shake the dressing, and mix them all together. Serve now or cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve. Mix well before serving.

Notes

This salad should keep in the fridge for several days if both covered and refrigerated properly.

I like to serve this as a whole meal as it has all the food groups that we need. Just go a little heavier on the added veggies if you're doing so.

Remember that the vinegar that you choose affects the taste of the salad more than anything in this recipe. If you make it and don't quite like it, try another vinegar. Like I mentioned in the post, I prefer it with White Wine Vinegar and I have heard others prefer it with Balsamic... so play around with it and see what you prefer. Oh, and you can salt and pepper to taste...though I usually don't.

This is just my preference for the ingredients, but you can do it however you want. Maybe just use my amounts as a guide. I had to use dried tomatoes this time because they were getting soft, I didn’t want them to go to waste so I dried them in the oven.

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*Reposts: Please note that this idea/post was originally posted to this website on 01/11/2014 but it was in great need of a refresh so it now is more user friendly/shareable and now has a free printable recipe card!

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